Deeply influenced by the social inequalities around her and inspired by her father’s social work in her early age, Shad Begum would become a known figure nationally and internationally because of her determined struggle to improve the conditions of the marginalized segments, especially women, of her community in the northwest of Pakistan – a deeply religious and conservative area where Taliban publically executed men and women on non-conformity to their version of Islam.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Innocent Victims of Conflict by Shad Begum

According to the
tenets of Pakhtunwali – the code of
living of the Pakhtuns – women and
children are awarded certain protections during mutual feuds and conflicts.
Both Islam and international humanitarian laws award similar protections and
privileges to non-combatants, civilians, the old, women and children. My
personal experiences of being an internally displaced person (IDP) and of
working with IDP women and children during the Swat IDP crisis have left me
with indelible marks on my consciousness that are re-surfaced with images of
IDPs from the North Waziristan Agency (NWA). I am witness to the sufferings of
thousands of pregnant women who walked on foot for miles to save their lives
and their unborn children. Unfortunately, many of these unborn children, who
had not even an iota of responsibility in making the conflict, had to be
sacrificed for conflicting ideologies and interests. The Pakhtun culture is very secretive about pregnancies. Sometimes,
even male members of the household do not have the knowledge of pregnancies
till the baby is born. One can imagine the difficulties of the displaced
pregnant women and their families from NWA.

The
current discourse in Pakistan is split amongst the liberals and the
conservatives on whether negotiations or a military operation is the solution
to the current crises of religious extremism and militancy. Both parties to the
conflict – Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan
and the Government – are trying to win the hearts and minds of common
Pakistanis to their sides. During all these debates, there are very few voices
for those who stand a neutral ground – the old, the women, and the children.
The current NWA IDP crisis is further sidelined due to media attention towards
the unfortunate incidents in Lahore, in which several precious lives, including
women, were lost.

Due
to the on-going conflict in the Waziristan region, thousands of families from
NWA have left the area since May, 2014.According to the available official figures there are around 60,000
registered IDPs in various camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; however, other sources
show the number of IDPs above 70,000. These IDPs have settled in different
areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) has established an IDP camp in
Bakakhel in Bannu district to house around 100,000 individuals while
200,000-250,000 are expected in a few days.Because of culturally inappropriate arrangements, IDP families are
shying away from registration in the official camps and mostly looking for
alternative arrangements on their own – staying with relatives or acquaintances
in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces. The Government of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has announced a relief package of PKR 7000/- (USD75) per
family through ATM cards. Cooked food will be distributed in camps initially
but no food hubs are allowed according to official policy. The Provincial
Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has announced free medical care in the
hospitals. Food vendors will be allowed permits for IDPs staying inside NWA.

Unfortunately,
Pakistan is still lacking a national IDP policy, which leaves many spaces in
addressing the needs of the IDPs in times of crisis. Provinces resort to
individual policies on IDPs in Pakistan. For example the recent decision of the
Sindh government to ban entry of IDPs to the province absolutely ignores the
humanitarian aspects of displacement from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is not good
for the national cohesion.

The
Government policy to exclusively provide relief to the IDPs is shrinking the
space for the humanitarian organizations to provide relief to the IDPs from
NWA. In majority cases, government authorities are not trained for handling IDP
crisis. Data collection about IDP needs become a problem in such
situations.The policy of the Government
to provide assistance to IDP families through ATM cards is also problematic for
several reasons. Many of the IDP families from NWA are not familiar with using
ATM cards. Additionally, ATM cards are not available in the camps.It also needs mention here that majority of
women do not have computerized national identity cards (CNIC), which exclude
them from getting cash assistance through government issued ATM cards. The
special needs of women and children are not taken care of in the light of the
prevailing cultural setting. Pregnant and lactating women are particularly
vulnerable due to the lack of mobile health facilities in and around the IDP
camps. Cash or food assistance is not the only items needed to be considered
for IDPs. There are social and psychological issues of the IDPs that need
professional handling.

We
hope that the Government of Pakistan will review its policy and include
humanitarian organizations, especially local actors with proper background
check, to provide relief to the innocent victims of the ongoing conflict. While
we appreciate the security concerns involved in providing humanitarian
assistance, it must be recognized that security of humanitarian organizations
or the lack of an accountability framework for relief organizations should not
be taken as an excuse from denying relief to the people in distress, especially
IDP women and children. We believe that
Government agencies and humanitarian organizations can join hands to address
the IDPs challenges in the hot summer wherein the holy month of fasting (Ramadhan) is only one week away. It will
be extremely difficult for IDP families to bear the hardships of displacement
and the rigor of fasting during the hot months of summer.

The
UN and its agencies have the mandate and responsibility to coordinate the work
of the humanitarian organizations and the government agencies. No clear plan of
action has been made public to address the IDP challenge from NWA. Coordination
gaps between the humanitarian, the UN, and government agencies need to be
addressed sooner in the best interest of NWA IDPs.

While
whatever is being said and done, the Government of Pakistan should come up with
a clear plan of action and timeline for the rehabilitation of IDPs back to
their places of origin with honor and dignity.

[1]
Shad Begum is a human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan and a
recipient of international women of courage award. She could be reached on shadbegum@gmail.com

2 comments:

An expertly written article. It provides detailed insight into the IDP issues, that if not taken care of will soon turn in to crisis. The article provides both sides of the story especially the barring of non-state organizations (relief/humanitarian organizations) from providing any relief work, while also highlighting the limited capacity of the Government organizations in carrying out relief operations. Your unbiased writing is really praise worthy, as you highlighted the need for accountability measures of organizations involved in relief work, which often we seem to overlook while being in the same or related sector.Thank you for all your contributions.Avais

Links

About Me

Shad Begum is the
founder and executive director of the non-profit Association for Behaviour
& Knowledge Transformation (ABKT). Her organization was uprooted during the
Taliban take-over in Swat due to massive displacement of people in 2009-2010.
Her resilience kept ABKT alive during enormous odds. Shad Begum is Ashoka
fellow and in recognition of her untiring struggle for the economic and
political empowerment of women and girls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; she was awarded
the “International Woman Courage Award” in 2012 by the U.S. Department of
State.

Honours and Awards

Certificate of recognition on outstanding contribution to food production
& house hold food security Prime Minister of Pakistan

Best social worker award, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Directorate
of Social Welfare & Women Development Department

ASHOKA life time fellowship ASHOKA international, Washington DC

Prize for Creativity in Rural Life from
Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF) Geneva

International Woman
of Courage Award 2012 from State
Department United States of America (USA)